A Discourse Analysis of Elite American Newspaper Editorials: The Case of Iran’s Nuclear Program

This study employs Said’s concept of Orientalism and van Dijk’s concept of the ideological square to analyze three elite American newspapers’ editorial coverage of Iran’s nuclear program. A critical discourse analysis of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal editorials from 1984 to 2004 identified six Orientalist themes. The study finds that The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post more predominantly drew on Orientalist arguments than did The New York Times.